Monday, January 6, 2014

Back on the wagon...


Now that the new year is here and life has returned to some semblance of normal, it's time to wrest back my self-control. Time to start watching what I eat, counting a few calories, and exercising again. If you remember, DH bought a treadmill several months back. Now I can walk in the comfort of my home, though it's parked in the garage and there's no heat or air in there at the moment. I'm still at the whim of the weather to a certain degree. But I have a space heater, so no excuses.

I'm eliminating as much sugar and as many carbs as I can again and going back to water and unsweet tea, hot or cold.

In addition it's time to make some other changes. I've determined to consume as little microwaved food or beverages as possible. Surely, the damage done to the food item in question by the process is not that good for the body. At the very least, damage has been done to the nutrients, they've been altered, rendered useless or possibly harmful. So I'll be brewing my tea at home and toting to work in my travel cup and two thermoses until I get my electric kettle back. And no more hot lunches, I guess. I should be getting back to salads anyway. Reheating will be done on the stove top or in the oven. I'd love to get rid of the microwaves altogether, but there'd be an outcry.

 
(Image courtesy of Wiki Commons.)

We're also switching back to real foods and condiments. So no more artificial sweeteners. I realize processed sugar's not that great either, but it's less toxic than aspartame and the like. I personally like raw sugar, when I use it. But I try not to and there's none in the house at the moment.

 (Image courtesy of Wiki Commons.)

No more margarine either. Real butter from now on. I'm also going to start cooking with coconut oil instead of vegetable oil or margarine (not that we'll have any). My mother-in-law recommended it to me a while back and now I've just read a very short book outlining its many benefits. (Not only can you ingest it, but it has topical uses as well.)
 

(Image courtesy of Louana.com.)

The next major change is going to be to find beef that's grass/range fed so that we can benefit from healthier meat products. My husband is not a fan of Walmart meat, but I've resisted changing. Mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to have to run all over hell and half acre buying groceries. But there's a Grillmasters in the business park and a meat market a few blocks from the house. I'm guessing the meat from the meat market is better than the pre-packaged process stuff from the grocery stores even if it's not completely organic. I printed off the flyer from the meat market and will place my order today. The have a couple of different specials, so I'm going to try one. They include veggies!

And those are just some initial changes coming down the pipe...

Healthier eating and healthier living, here we come, kicking and screaming!

4 comments:

Regina Richards said...

Sounds like you have a great plan going. Kroger sells Nolan Ryan Grass fed beef. And of course Whole Foods has it in every variety.

Jen FitzGerald said...

Good to know--thanks, Regina! Will have to find the closest Whole Foods and Kroger. (We had a Kroger close by, but it closed...)

Anonymous said...

If you get hungry for a burger, Kincaids uses grass-fed beef :-) Sounds like you have good plans, Jen. I need to check out that coconut oil!

Nancy

Jen FitzGerald said...

Thanks, Nancy. Burgers are one of my favorite meals.